Patricia Mou

In other words, their pursuit of happiness seems more successful than ours because it is not a solitary endeavor. African happiness is a joint enterprise, something that can only be created by the whole. I am happy because we are happy. Much contentment arises from a sense of family, community, and connectedness.

More tools give you negative utility. They won't make the work go faster. But they will consume as much time as you are willing to waste.

Happiness is not determined by objective factors, but by how you feel about them.

Presence over planning: "There’s this sense that we’re on our way somewhere else and that what’s right here is not the time that matters. We’re trying to get to the point in the future when we’ve finally checked everything off our to-do list and we can rest. As long as this is our habit, we are racing toward the end of our life. We are skimming the... See more

If boredom is a necessary ingredient, then portable internet is a disaster for doing the work.

If your goal does not have a schedule, it is a dream.